By the Sword Divided | |
---|---|
Genre | Historical drama |
Created by | John Hawkesworth |
Directed by | Henry Herbert, Brian Farnham, Diarmuid Lawrence, Michael Custance |
Starring | Julian Glover Sharon Maughan Jeremy Clyde |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Production | |
Production company | BBC |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 |
Release | 16 October 1983 – 10 March 1985 |
By the Sword Divided is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1983 and 1985.
The series, created by John Hawkesworth, was a historical drama set during the mid-17th century, dealing with the impact of the English Civil War on the fictional Lacey family, made up of both Royalist and Parliamentarian supporters.
It follows the family as it is torn apart by the conflicting and changing loyalties of the war, as families were during that time, and the defeat of the Royalist forces at the end of the First English Civil War. Series two covers the second and third civil wars and the eventual Restoration of the Monarchy. The last episodes see the surviving members of the family (from both sides of the divide) witness the arrival of King Charles II on a visit to the ancestral Lacey home.
Regular Cast
| Series 1 only:
| Series 2 only:
|
# | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Gather ye Rosebuds" | Henry Herbert | Jeremy Paul | 16 October 1983 |
2 | "This War Without an Enemy" | Henry Herbert | John Hawkesworth | 23 October 1983 |
3 | "The Sound of Drums" | Henry Herbert | Alfred Shaughnessy | 30 October 1983 |
4 | "A Silver Moon" | Henry Herbert | Jeremy Paul | 6 November 1983 |
5 | "The Edge of the Sword" | Henry Herbert | Alexander Baron | 13 November 1983 |
6 | "Outrageous Fortune" | Brian Farnham | Alfred Shaughnessy | 20 November 1983 |
7 | "A Sea of Dangers" | Brian Farnham | John Hawkesworth | 27 November 1983 |
8 | "Ring of Fire" | Brian Farnham | John Hawkesworth | 4 December 1983 |
9 | "Ashes to Ashes" | Brian Farnham | Jeremy Paul | 11 December 1983 |
10 | "Not Peace, But a Sword" | Brian Farnham | Alexander Baron | 18 December 1983 |
# | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
---|---|---|---|---|
11 | "Conflicts" | Brian Farnham | Jeremy Paul | 6 January 1985 |
12 | "Cruel Necessity" | Brian Farnham | John Hawkesworth | 13 January 1985 |
13 | "Cromwell at Arnescote" | Brian Farnham | Carey Harrison | 20 January 1985 |
14 | "Witch Hunt" | Brian Farnham | Alexander Baron | 27 January 1985 |
15 | "Escape" | Brian Farnham | Jeremy Paul | 3 February 1985 |
16 | "Fateful Days" | Michael Custance | Alexander Baron | 10 February 1985 |
17 | "Forlorn Hope" | Michael Custance | Alexander Baron | 17 February 1985 |
18 | "The Mailed Fist" | Michael Custance | Alexander Baron | 24 February 1985 |
19 | "Retribution" | Diarmuid Lawrence | Jeremy Paul | 3 March 1985 |
20 | "Restoration" | Diarmuid Lawrence | John Hawkesworth | 10 March 1985 |
The filming for the programme took place at Fermyn Woods Hall, Rockingham Castle and Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire. [1]
By the Sword Divided is available on DVD in the UK, distributed by Acorn Media UK.
The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the struggle consisted of the First English Civil War and the Second English Civil War. The Anglo-Scottish War of 1650 to 1652 is sometimes referred to as the Third English Civil War.
The Battle of Edgehill was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642.
Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy. Their first song was the 1963 hit "Yesterday’s Gone". The duo became more successful in America than in their native country. Clyde has enjoyed a long television acting career, often playing upper-middle class or aristocratic characters.
Julian Wyatt Glover is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War, took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland – all ruled by Charles I. The conflict had political, religious and ethnic aspects and was fought over governance, land ownership, religious freedom and religious discrimination. The main issues were whether Irish Catholics or British Protestants held most political power and owned most of the land, and whether Ireland would be a self-governing kingdom under Charles I or subordinate to the parliament in England. It was the most destructive conflict in Irish history and caused 200,000–600,000 deaths from fighting as well as war-related famine and disease.
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, sometimes known as the British Civil Wars, were a series of intertwined conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars, the First and Second English Civil Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Anglo-Scottish War of 1650–1652. They resulted in victory for the Parliamentarian army, the execution of Charles I, the abolition of monarchy, and founding of the Commonwealth of England, later The Protectorate, a unitary state which controlled the British Isles until the Stuart Restoration in 1660.
The Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652), also known as the Third Civil War, was the final conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between shifting alliances of religious and political factions in England, Scotland and Ireland.
Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck of Waldeck Limpurg,, commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an English actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 series, The Archers.
Between 1639 and 1652, Scotland was involved in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of conflicts which included the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the English Civil War, the Irish Confederate Wars and finally the conquest of Ireland and Scotland by the Parliamentarian New Model Army.
Benjamin Patrick Aris was an English actor who was best known for his parts in Hi-de-Hi! and To the Manor Born, and was also very active on stage. He was often cast as an eccentric, upper-class or upper-middle class man.
Hopton Castle is situated in the village of the same name which lies approximately halfway between Knighton and Craven Arms, in the English county of Shropshire. Hopton Castle featured in the TV series Time Team in 2010. A ruin since the early 18th century, it was partially restored between 2006 and 2011, and was officially re-opened to the public as a visitor attraction in December 2011 by the Duke of Gloucester.
Ashes to Ashes is a British fantasy crime drama and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.
John Russell (1620–1687) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1641 to 1644. He fought in the Royalist army during the English Civil War.
Holt Castle was a medieval castle in the village of Holt, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Work began in the 13th century during the Welsh Wars, the castle was sited on the Welsh–English border by the banks of the River Dee.
Sir John Wolstenholme, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
Robert Tatton was the High Sheriff of Chester between 1645 and 1646. A supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War, Robert is perhaps best known for the ultimately unsuccessful defence of his family home, Wythenshawe Hall, during its three-month siege by a Parliamentary force in the winter of 1643/44.
High Ercall Hall or Ercall Hall is the remaining part of a larger complex in the village of High Ercall, Shropshire, 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Shrewsbury.
The capture of Wakefield occurred during the First English Civil War when a Parliamentarian force attacked the Royalist garrison of Wakefield, Yorkshire. The Parliamentarians were outnumbered, having around 1,500 men under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, compared to the 3,000 led by George Goring in Wakefield. Despite being outnumbered, Parliamentarians successfully stormed the town, taking roughly 1,400 prisoners.
The battle of Piercebridge was fought on 1 December 1642 in County Durham, England, during the First English Civil War. The Earl of Newcastle was advancing with an army of 6,000 from Newcastle upon Tyne to York to reinforce the local Royalists. Aware of his approach, the Parliamentarians defended the main crossing over the River Tees, at Piercebridge. Under the command of Captain John Hotham, around 580 troops had barricaded the bridge.
The sieges of Bradford, were two very short-lived sieges that took place separately in the town of Bradford, Yorkshire, in December 1642 and early July 1643, just after the Royalist victories in Pontefract (1642), and the Battle of Adwalton Moor (1643) respectively. In the second siege, with the Parliamentarian forces dispersed to the west in and around Halifax, the Earl of Newcastle subjected Bradford to a brief siege to enforce rule and allegiance to the king.